Gregor's Queen
by PincheeX
Summary: Gregor, now 18 followed his family to Virginia following the end to the war of time. He's at his worst barely keeping up a 2.0 GPA, scraping along at the bottom of the barrel... until someone unexpected shows up at his doorstep. What they bring is even more unexpected. Rated T because I like to use four letter words ;)
1. Life now

**So this is my first piece... I hope you enjoy!**

Gregor sat in his bed, sheets ridden with wrinkles, looking out to the night sky. The moon gazed upon the lands surrounding his family's house and fields. His knees were bunched up to his chest, his arms wrapped around himself in a self-condoling hug. In his left hand he carried with him a faded photo of him from a distant time. Taken with a Polaroid camera, the photo was of a silvery blonde and himself, sighing and letting out all of his breath, he sunk into his pillows. Back against the wall he studied the photo, searching for something new, a new detail, anything. In all the years, months, weeks, nights, and days he had done this he never found anything new, just the two kids and a bland, pearly grey stone wall. The photo gave him a reminder of his turbulent past, as well as the people who came with it. Memories filled his head, happy and sad, memories from a lifetime ago. Tears welled up in his eyes as he remembered the last things and people he saw of the Underland. He gently brushed the photo, afraid it would disintegrate in his hands, and held it dearly in his hands. Those were the last days he had been himself, his real self, not the current depressed sorry excuse for a human being he was now. He squeezed his eyes shut and ran the back of his hand along his eye line, smearing the tears across his face. He felt his breathing slow, and muscles relax as they gave in to the temptations of sleep.

Since his families arrival to rural Virginia Gregor lost almost all of his will to live. The only thing keeping him alive was the mere memory of the girl he had feelings for they weren't simple feelings nor were they easy to understand, they were instead complex filled with an unbearable amount of turns and twits. For the first three months he wouldn't come out of his room, a make shift bedroom in the attic with only a full sized bed, simple dresser, and two windows each opposite of each other. No matter how hard his family tried in vain, nothing they did made him budge from his attic escape in the slightest. Three times a day Gregor would find a meal outside his curtained doorway, each time with a note telling him of how his family loved him.

"Yeah right," he would scoff each time, "If any of you gave a damn about me you would've let us stay in New York."

Finally on what would have been the start of his fourth month in seclusion, Gregor emerged from his room. It was 6 AM sharp, and Gregor knew it was the start of the day in his new life. He had been in isolation but paid attention to what happened outside of his windowed asylum. Gregor hadn't lost a touch of his sharpness or body mass, as all he did in those three months was train, and train he did. Squats, sit ups, push ups, pull ups, if you could do it in a small 10 x 12 room he did it. His family was just waking as he walked calmly out the front door, and took in a deep breath sucking in greedily at the crisp Virginian morning air.

His families farm had grown since their arrival boasting vegetables of all varieties, a few fruit trees, some grapevines, a small herd of cows, a few horses, and a coop of chickens. He smiled his first real smile at the thought of his family working this hard, making adjustments when needed to get used to this new life. A life of hard work, but being able to sustain themselves without the worry of not making ends meet. He knew from the one way conversations between him and his father that carried between the curtained door frame that when he emerged from seclusion that he needed to let the cows out, move the mobile chicken coop to a new section of the families field, and ready himself for school. So that he did. Quickly and efficiently he did his tasks taking no more than an hour to complete them. Gregor's Family watched in amazement as their son, and brother briskly tore through his chores.

He made no effort to speak to any of them.

Gregor had missed a good chunk of his first quarter as a senior at his new school in Virginia, and upon his arrival his teachers reactions were all the same. The classic look of surprise followed by introducing "the new student" to the class, all of which no one paid attention to. After that he would find an empty seat near the back and not make any attempt to introduce himself to his classmates. If they tried to start something up, Gregor would just send them a nasty glare and make them uncomfortable and awkward to the point where they would just give up.

Time carried on as Gregor got used to his new routine. He'd take the time now though to interact, minimally, with his family who were in no part displeased with Gregor's "normalization." Additionally, much to Gregor and his family's surprise some of the scars started to dissipate, melt back into the native soft peachy skin tone that Gregor's body had taken a liking to. He watched every day as the lines, dots, circles, and marks that were once wounds that ravaged his body slowly melt away. The newer, more recent ones decided that their time was not up, and stubbornly marked his skin. He would inspect himself everyday to see what had gone, and what had stayed, soon he found himself in shorts, and tee shirts once again.

At school he was regarded as a loner, an outcast tossed to the sidelines out of the spotlight of the school, Gregor was more than fine with this. No one would talk to him, even the teachers, they had all tried to no avail. Everyone but one soul had given up on the troubled man, a quiet kid by the name of "Peter" whether or not that was his real name Gregor knew not. Gregor got used to his company as the new student tagged along with him from 8:15 to 3:50. He would tell tales of his homeland to Gregor in his broken, accented English, and ramble about anything. He had gotten used to his new life, but by no means enjoyed it. He missed the old days where he would wake up in a land of huge creatures, the constant threat of war, he missed the people, and scenery of the Underland. Oh how he wished to return.

Everything felt almost normal to Gregor, he minimally passed his first semester, didn't get any trouble from anyone, and his parents constantly reminded him of their love and worry for him. All until the senior jock, school bully Brian Leefeman decided to pick on the one kid Gregor made any connection to. The quiet kid, Peter. Besides his name Gregor knew almost everything about him, from how he had made a long trip from war torn Syria to Virgina, to how he likes his toast in the morning. For Gregor the day seemed normal. Wake up, chores, go to school, eat lunch, but right as he sat down at his normal spot near the entrance to the school he heard a loud booming voice.

"Hey give me your damn money, you stupid monkey, I need some cigs," Brian yelled at peter, picking him up and slamming him into the brick wall of the school.

"P... P... Please, I not have money, I.. I just uh, lunch," Peter stuttered, managing to get out the scentence in a thick accent. He was pinned to the brick wall, thick pale fingers clasped his shoulders.

"Well, I couldn't give less of a shit, money, or I beat you worse than a terrorist," Brian shouted in his face egged on by his posse.

"Brian, I thought you said you wouldn't pick on anyone when you were with me," an infuriated voice piped up behind the group.

"This is none of your business Amanda," Brian screeched at a girl. That girl just happened to be the most popular girl at school, who also happened to be Brian's girlfriend. By now almost half the school had either heard or been notified that this was happening, including Gregor. The school's population gathered at the outburst and formed a semi-circle around the scene of the two duking it out with vulgar words. The jock dropped Peter to the ground and faced Amanda ready to retaliate again, this time pphysically.

Watching silently near the front of the crowd Gregor beckoned to Peter to Get out of the semi-circle that had formed. Unfortunately Brian noticed his victim's attempt to escape, and already furious, whipped out a nasty kick that knocked Peter back to the ground. Amanda was beyond furious at this and threw a punch at Brian's head who had now turned his back. The light punch didn't so much as phase Brian. He turned and swatted her down with a vicious backhand that left Amanda crying, and with a red mark across her face. Turning back to Peter the brute picked the winded boy up, and was winding up another punch when Gregor intervened. Pushing through the crowd, Gregor managed to get out a hoarse warning.

"Stop, or I'll make this the end of the line."

Hearing the new challenger Brian looked up from Peter, and sized Gregor up. Gregor was a dwarf compared to his opponent who was easily 300 LBS pure muscle.

"Well, well, well, the little shit talks," Brian chuckled, "If you kiss my ass, and offer to suck me off I'd gladly forgive you." His posse thought this was hilarious and burst with laughter.

"Suck you off? I don't think I'd be able to find your little johhny," Gregor taunted, his voice still a mere rasp from disuse. This seemed to tip the already furious Brian over the edge, and with a shout of rage charged at Gregor, knocking him off his feet. Brian landed blow after rage filled blow on Gregor, before ending his onslaught and standing up. Gregor propped himself up on his elbows and laughed.

"What is so funny shit face?" Brian asked, still huffing and puffing.

"You hit like a girl," Gregor said shaking his head, and wiping his bloodied nose. Brian turned and asked for Gregor to clarify, menace behind his voice.

"I mean you hit like a girl, what didn't your stupid walnut sized brain not get about that," Gregor said again. His rager abilities came out of their deep slumber and filled his blood with that signature, buzzing, adrenaline. With out warning Brian launched what was to be his final punch at Gregor, who simply waited for the punch to arrive. With lightning fast reflexes his hand shot up, and grabbed the bully's fist. A quick yank and Gregor pulled the bully into his already upwards accelerating knee, and the felt his knee sink into deep into the bully's stomach. He let out a small gasp and winded, Brian fell to the ground clutching his abdomen. The crowd was too stuned to do much of anything and just stared gaping at what they saw. The most feared individual taken out of commission by a nobody farm boy. Gregor watched as the bully writhed and twisted trying to get a breath of air into his oxygen deprived lungs. Just for good measure Gregor viciously brought his foot down on the bully's face, only being satisfied by the brutal snap of the Brian's nose. People were whispering already, coming up with theories about why the boy was so secluded and a good fighter. Gregor glanced back over at the mess of a giant being helped up by his buddies. Satisfied at the sight of the semi-broken bully he walked over to the still cowering Peter.

"You ok?" Gregor asked, getting down on knee to help his acquaintance up.

"Yes, I am ok," Peter shakily got out.

"Go to the office, tell them what happened"

"Ok..." With that the small syrian boy turned, disappearing into the main building.

Everyone at this point had dispersed as teachers begun to show up to the scene. Including Gregor's father.

 **So uh, hope you guys liked this first bit, I'm probably gonna update randomly, feed back would be appreciated but i mean you guys have your own lives...**

 **Yeah I guess...**

 **For now -Pinchee**


	2. An unexpected visit

**So hi,**

 **This chapter doesn't have much in it, but builds to the next one.**

 **Thanks to my first reviewers:**

 **Koipbuiop and guest "Baby Freddy" (sorry I'm not sure what you mean by "one of these stories" Freddy) It means a lot to me! I don't have much to say other than enjoy!**

Gregor found himself with his father in the principals office after school. He'd been in there a few times, but mostly because his teachers were worried about his grades, and withdrawn behavior. Since the school was small, they didn't exactly have a counselor so everyone in the building doubled as something else.

The room was painted a light blue and had pictures of the principal and his kids and diplomas framed on the wall behind him. He had a nice walnut desk, and the room's floor was covered in white tile with crimson red patterns. It was quite roomy, and had two chairs opposing the big man, Gregor was one, and his father the other.

"Gregor, if I am not incorrect you fought with Brian Lewis this afternoon right?" asked Gregor's principal hands clasped in front of his face.

"Yeah, sure if you can call it a fight," Gregor snorted lounging in his chair.

"We've taken the liberty to ask a few people about the incident, and they all tell us you started the fight wi-"

"ARE YOU RETARDED? WHY WOULD I START A FIGHT WITH THAT OAF?" Gregor shouted interrupting his principal. His principal silenced the enraged senior, and continued where he left off.

Ignoring Gregor's rude interruption the Principal continued.

"As I said we talked to the people who watched this whole thing unravel, and while some said you were only protecting Peter most said you started it. Now when we talked to Amanda and Peter they said it was Brian's fault, but we think they were traumatized by he whole ordeal, so we aren't factoring in their opinion in this matter. Now I can see your face, and we won't be punishing just you, since no faculty saw it we only have witness reports, and since the whole thing is still in the dark we are going to punish both of you. You and Brian both will be suspended until further notice," finished the Principal.

"Thank you Principal Brown," said Gregor's dad, "We understand the circumstances, and only wish to talk with Gregor's teachers to get the work he will miss."

"That is fine, your son's punishment is effective immediately," Principal Brown said to Gregor's father before turning to Gregor, "You have tomorrow to come in and get your work."

With that he dismissed the boy and, continued his discussion with his father. Gregor walked out of the office, and found his way out of the brick building greeted by a soothing pink winter sunset. The sun waved good bye as it begun its decent behind the hills.

It had taken an additional hour or so for the two adults to sort the mess out, and come to an understanding. All that time Gregor just sat on the front steps thinking about what had happened. _What a day, save a kid and take the fall,_ he thought. Gregor knew he had done the right thing by intervening, but almost regretted doing so. It was because of his impulsive nature in the first place that had landed him in every bad scenario he could think of. He muled over many subjects in his mind before he focused his thoughts onto a girl. He closed his eyes and sighed deeply letting every last ounce of breath leave his lungs.

 _She stood tall and proud, her body composed with confidence and radiating power. A thin golden band lay nested in her silver-blonde hair, almost taunting the rest of the world. 'look at me' it pleaded. The girl had a scar running down the side of her face, a think whitened line that ran from her temple to her chin. The scar rested upon her pale, creamy skin, pale an understatement. She waved at Gregor as he unwillingly rose from the stairwell. Her companion, a golden bat the size of a small VW bug also awkwardly waved a wing. She could've passed as a normal person saying good bye to a friend after a party, but her eyes betrayed her. Her beautiful violet eyes. They told a different story, not this casual good bye, but a good bye for ever. They were filled with passion, love, sorrow, and above all else pain. It was not the pain you felt after you skinned your knee, or broke a bone. But instead it was a pain that reflected a broken heart, a final farewell, a farewell to someone that was closer to them than their own skin. Gregor's eyes reflected that of the girls._

Gregor sighed, even though he once knew the girl so well, the memory was fading. Certain details faded, somethings might have changed in his mind, the last time he saw her was easily over 5 years ago. Every hour since they parted ways he had wondered what she did...

"Gregor," his dad whispered shaking his son's shoulder, breaking Gregor out of his deep thought.

Coming to his senses he got up, and started walking to the car. A lot had happened that day, and more would come. The two got into the family minivan, and headed home. For the most part the ride home was uneventful, the drive that usual took the duo 20 minutes took 15. The only thing that caught Gregor's attention was a dark shape in the air. He thought he saw a dark shape anyways, he was tired, and kind of out of it.

As they two pulled into the dirt driveway Gregor's mom opened the front door. A white apron covered the woman's front side, and only the blue sleeves of her dress peeked out on her shoulders. Her face showed little emotion, her mouth only slightly turned down on the sides in a small frown. Gregor was surprised his mom didn't come out of that door frame flailing her arms, words sharper than daggers flying out of her mouth. Every time he messed up that was her reaction. He shrugged it off, and climbed out of the car.

"Gregor, a word with you," came a small voice originating from his mother.

"Uhhhh sure," Gregor responded, scratching the back of his head.

"I know what happened between you and that brute," his mother spitting out the last words.

"Look mom I'm sorry, I really am. But at the same time, I'm not. Peter needed my help, and I-" Gregor started.

"Gregor, I know the whole story. I know what you did was right, I just wish you, well, hadn't acted in violence."

"Mom... you know that I know some people only understand one language. Sometimes that language comes in the form of a knee in their stomach, and a fist in their face. While it isn't the best, I had to do it." With those last words Gregor left his mother in the door way and pushed past her into their house. He needed to shower, and eat. He checked his watch on his wrist and it read 5:30. Sauntering over to the bathroom Gregor stripped out of his clothing. Turning on the water, her turned to the mirror. He looked at his reflection he had grown, he was now a towering 6'1" and was well defined, not buff, but had a sturdy build, muscles built up from the work he did on his farm. He had matured since his departure from the Underland, he now had a face of a man, the baby fat melted off leaving only a nose straight as an arrow and a jawline worthy of Hollywood. His chocolate eyes had given way to a new shade of hazel, his irises bordered by an emerald green. His once shaggy hair had but since then evolved into the wavy mess it now was. He skimmed over his whole body before his eyes landed inevitably on his chest. Gregor winced at the five long white ridges on his chest. He skimmed his fingers over them, one per and was taken back to a time seemingly eons away.

 _' I need to get in closer to be be able to take him out'_

 _'Hang on'_

 _Twists and turns, an opening at his leg._

 _A feeling of dismay._

 _The white rat's jaws coming down on Ares's neck._

 _The Bane's claws ripping through armor, skin, and muscle._

No Matter how much time he had spent away from the Underland that image repeated itself. Over and over. Mouth open, and closing down on Gregor's best friend's neck. Over and over again. He felt at his neck, the claw of Ares strung on a length of elastic that came from a climbing rope. On the verge of tears he hopped into the shower which had warmed up since he turned it on. Gregor just sat there for a while, warm water running over his figure. He suddenly lashed out hitting the tiled wall, he ignored the pain in his right hand, and left it there on the area stuck by his hand. One sole tear leaked from his eye, and off his face.

"I'm so sorry, Ares, I am so, so, sorry," he sobbed. Gregor never cried, the only thing he ever cried about was Ares. Now he found himself at it again, his one lone tear washing down the drain. He sat there shoulders slumped fist on the wall for a while just begging Ares forgiveness.

Gregor was refreshed after his shower, and new set of clothes, and dinner. He now laid on his roof, stargazing, wondering if Luxa ever visited the Central park exit to look at the sky he now watched. He just observed as the stars twinkled and shone brightly, he cocked his head at the moon, which let off only a small sliver of light, a cresent belonging to a smiling face. He checked his wrist mounted clock, and read 11:35. He's sat there in a zen like state for three hours almost. He let out a little sigh, followed by a rare grin, as he found himself talking to his picture. He didn't even remember taking it out, but he didn't care.

His one sided conversation was ended when he heard a familiar voice, a voice that brimmed with intelligence.

"Gregor, is that you on the roof?"

He thought to use his echolocation since he couldn't see but 3 feet around him. He clicked his tongue, and the image created was that of a boy, too short to be peter, too skinny for his father. He knew the voice, and could only think of one boy who actually sounded intelligent.

"Hazard?"

 **I did it guys. I'm a Do-er, chapter two is done. Quite frankly not my finest work but it does the job. Hope you enjoyed at least!** **Also, I don't actually know how to make that little line appear between my story, and this little bit at the beginning and end. If anyone knows it'd be great if you could let me know! Drop a review if you have the time, as a new author it really means a lot! Follow and Favorite if you want I guess... Honestly I don't even know if anyone reads this. Oh well...**

 **For now, -Pinchee**


	3. Dressed in Steel

**As of now there is 8 inches of snow, and I've gotten bored of it so in place of studying for finals I'm gonna work on cptr 4. Most writers I've noticed write more about what is going on in their lives here, but I'd like to keep it just stuff related to the story... With out further wait, here is the third installment of my story.**

Gregor hadn't even realized the name that came out of his mouth belonged to the boy who stood at his front door.

"Yeah, its me," Hazard sheepishly replied in the dark. Gregor got up from his rooftop paradise, and stood in shock. Immediately he regretted his decision. The blood in his head rushed down to his legs causing him to momentarily be light headed. In that short time he staggered, and nearly fell off the roof of the small farmhouse. With a grunt he was able to regain his balance, and put his treasured photograph in his black vinyl wallet.

"I'll be right down," Gregor said turning to duck into his window. Remembering the time of night, he decided that with the drama that had occurred it would be best to not wake his family. With a sigh, he dropped off of the roof, dropping into a neat roll, and popped back up to see Hazard's surprised face less than a foot away from his own. "Hahaha," Gregor let out, a small chuckle, "I guess... that works."

"What're you looking at?" Gregor asked the startled Hazard to break the semi-awkward silence that had overcome the two friends.

"Oh I... Uhhh… What..?" Hazard's words stumbled out of his mouth.

"Come on I haven't gotten soft over the years… have I?"

"No, no, not at all," Hazard said finally having regained his composure.

"So, what exactly brings you here to the wonderful land of Virginia?" Gregor could now make out the outline of Hazard's face, it was bruised, and had cuts sprinkled all over the place, his eyes were uneasy, and his hair was most definitely disheveled. Although it would make sense for him to be roughed up after making the 400 mile journey from New York, Gregor's, now refined, sixth sense told him something was off. No matter how he justified Hazard's appearance, it nagged him at the back of his head.

"Could I rest a while," Hazard drowsily got out, ducking Gregor's question much to his dismay. Gregor could see his eyelids fluttering, fighting off the strain it took to keep them open, and decided to ignore his feeling of uneasiness that swept across his mind.

"Sure, come here," Gregor said gesturing to the wall before cupping his hands, "You got any juice in you?"

"Yeah," Hazard managed.

"Great, put your foot in my hands, and I'm gonna boost you onto the roof, my hand, shoulder, roof, got it?"

"Hand, shoulder, roof… Yeah,"Hazard put his right foot into Gregor's hands and heard him grunt under his weight as he put his left on his shoulder. He felt himself rise, as Gregor rose from his kneeling position, and raised his arms to climb up onto the roof. Managing to kick his legs over the edge of the roof, he half walked, half crawled to the open window he assumed was Gregor's. He ungraciously fell into the hole in the roof, and as soon as he hit the ground fell into a much needed slumber. Gregor followed suite, jumping up, and hoisting himself up over the ledge, and into the window. He nearly stepped on Hazard's sleeping form coming through the window. Effortlessly Gregor picked up the small boy, and lay him on his bed. Gregor watched Hazard sleep while he unpacked his sleeping bag, the boy would go in between a soft snore, and silence while his face would contort into various masks of emotions. He watched Fright twist into bliss, and bliss into nervousness. As he lay down Gregor knew he'd have to explain a lot in the morning. He let Hazard's staggered snores lull him into a dreamless sleep. Gregor woke to find Hazard sprawled across the floor at his feet. At first confused as to why the Underlander was in his room, Gregor slowly found himself remembering the prior day's events. He slowly meandered out of his attic escape, and found his mother working in the kitchen.

"Oh hey mom," Gregor said whilst rubbing the grogginess from his eyes, "Hazard is sleeping in my room."

"Who?" his mother asked quite confused. Sighing to himself Gregor begun to explain who Hazard was, and how he saw him on their front step the previous night. Each time he spoke of the Underland he could see his mother visibly tense up, and her eyes betray her emotions. By the time he had finished explaining to his mother, the rest of the household begun to wake, and stumble into the kitchen to find something to eat before their days would begin. Just as he was telling his mom to not talk about Hazard to the rest of his family Lizzie walked by on her way to put her bowl in the sink. Catching the word 'Hazard' she perked up, butting into the two's conversation.

"What about Hazard?" Lizzie asked her eyes displaying interest under her glasses.

"He's here Liz," Gregor replied bluntly to the young teenager, much to the dismay of his mother. He knew better than to try to put blinds on his sister. The young girl was smarter than anyone gave her credit for.

"Wha- wha- wait, what?" Lizzie stammered.

"Hazard is sleeping in my room, he came yesterday," Gregor began, at this point his dad, and Little Maggie had caught on that something was going on. After finishing his explanation to the rest of his family everyone except his mother seemed without words.

"Well that's a shocker!" His dad joked gaining a slight laugh from everyone but Gregor, "Well I'm sure we'll discuss what will happen when we all get back tonight. Let's get rolling you two," he called out over his shoulder winking at Lizzie, and Maggie. The two girls followed their father out to the car, with Lizzie peeking over her shoulder at Gregor's attic window.

After everyone left the house Gregor went to check on the boy. Sure enough he was still out, only this time he had some silly grin on his teenage face. In better light Gregor could see that Hazard really had it bad on the way to his home. He had injuries from little nicks, to palm sized bruises covering his legs, and arms. Gregor decided to go out and do what was expected of him, and went out to move the chicken coop, and finish what ever needed doing on their small farm. While he was moving the coop he sneezed, and subconsciously formed an image in his mind, what surprised him was the fact that he saw someone standing in the field to his left. Looking over he saw nothing. The same wave of uneasiness that came with Hazard's arrival washed over him again. Ignoring the feeling he went back about doing his work.

He glanced at his watch which read 12:04 and realized that he was hungry. Heading inside his house he found Hazard scrutinizing an orange. He must not know what an orange is he realized.

"Hey," Gregor called out to the teenager. Snapping out of his trance like state the boy waved at Gregor who was leaning against the doorframe entering the kitchen.

"Oh, Gregor hi there," Hazard replied a hint of nervousness in his voice. Gregor ignored the nervousness and noticed his eyes were much brighter than the day before.

"That's an orange, like the color, you can eat it," Gregor encouraged. Watching Hazard sink his teeth straight through the skin without peeling it Gregor winced as he spit out the mostly skin filled bite. "Oh uh, you peel the skin off first"

Hazard just rolled his eyes at Gregor's decision to forget to tell him about how to eat this 'orange.' After he was done peeling the firm skin off the fruit, he took a bite, this time an explosion of flavor came forth. Juices from the fruit leaked out of the boys mouth, and ran down his chin, they were sweet, and slightly tart. Hazard savored each bite, and only looked up from his orange periodically to see Gregor whip something up and leave. Once he was done with the orange hazard got up and opened a door. Instead of finding a hall way or room, he was blasted by a chilling wave of air. When he had recovered from the shock of the chilled air he poked around to find many fruits and vegetables, as well as some meat. He decided on a sandwich of sorts with cheese, ham, and different vegetables on the side. After finishing the food he noticed Gregor walking in with a light blue towel around his neck, and his hair wet. Must've taken a shower when he was scouring the small kitchen for more food. Motioning for Hazard to follow, he walked over to sit down on his well worn, tan, couch in the living room.

"We have a lot to catch up on," Gregor stated plainly, gesturing to take a seat on the love seat across the room.

By the time the two boys had finished discussing everything from Hazard's current hobbies, to Vikus's most recent dealings with the spinners, Gregor's family had started to trickle in the door, one after the other. Gregor had touched on every subject except a specifically touchy one involving the girl who would float through his mind every so often. Hazard either didn't notice since Gregor would only indirectly mention her, or He'd ask so only if Hazard was right next to him would he hear his questions. In annoyance Gregor clicked his tongue and was startled to find a humanoid shape in the room that didn't fit the profile of anyone he knew. He looked over at where the shape appeared but saw no one, at least he didn't think he saw anyone. He clicked his tongue again, and didn't see anyone. Strange, he thought, swear I saw someone, maybe I'm just tired.

Looking back over to the love seat he was even further surprised to see another Underlander with a blade pressed against Hazzard's throat. Gregor blinked a few times to make sure he was seeing right, and sure enough there was an Underlander there. The Underlander somewhat miffed that Gregor didn't believe his eyes saw let out a ragged, malice filled chuckle.

Too surprised to do much of anything Gregor just blurted out the first thing that came to mind which just happened to be "I didn't order any pizza!"

At that remark, the Underlander let out a guttural laugh that filled the house. He didn't know what a 'pizza' was but understood that ordering pizza wasn't an everyday thing. Not betraying his purpose, the Underlander carefully watched the mildly confused Overlander try to regroup his scattered thoughts. He had removed the blade from Hazard's throat leaving behind yet another slice of skin missing, replaced by the slow yet steady flow of blood. He twirled his blade around his fingers much like one would with a pencil out of boredness. Never once did his authoritative gaze leave Gregor. He felt the presence of a woman and quickly felt it withdraw as soon as it entered.

Gregor had so much flying through his mind, it was like his thoughts had been scrambled like eggs. A silence that would take what felt like an eternity to break fell across the farm, not even the wind wanted to break it.

Gregor looked across at the figure whose gaze bore down on him. He was built like a tank, Dwayne 'The Rock' Johnson kind of tank. He wore a simple yet fearsome set of armour, the combination of the two quite contrasting. He carried no swords on his belt instead had multitudes of daggers, hatchets, and throwing knives bound to the leather loop. Each one carried its own purpose, and deadliness, and by no means looked like they belnged to their fearsome owner. Gregor raised an eyebrow when he saw his old dagger on one of the loops, he knew of the finely crafted blade. After all it had sliced through so much flesh, and been baptised in more blood than thought possible in the hands of him. He simplyy blinked at the blade wondering how he could've gotten his hands on it. His eyes continued on their journey of exploration and noticed that the man was almost blacked out in blades. He was a porcupine in the form of a man with metal quills Gregor mused.

"You know of me?" Gregor inquired raising an eyebrow, his body betraying no sign of the surprise he once felt. The figure remained silent and instead gave him a look of 'I don't know, do I know you?'

"Not the talkative type eh?" Gregor asked. The man simply returned his question with the corners of his mouth up turning into a devilish grin. Shaking his head Gregor thought this would be one of those conversations. Gregor just sat there running his hand through his damp hair. He didn't know why but his instinct told him he had seen the man before. He knew he hadn't seen the man before but he thought he saw some familiars, he just couldn't place where he had seen them. As the silence between the two went uninterrupted Hazard felt the need to speak up.

"I- I'm so sorry Gregor, I really am," Hazzard said, tears bordering his lower eyes. The boy looked like he was going to die of shame.

"What are you talking about?"

All Gregor got back was a stare that conveyed more apology, thoughts, and emotions than words could, even if they came from one of the best users Gregor knew of. Hazard didn't say anything, he only let tear drops fall from his eyes.

"Ah, don't worry about it," Gregor said without a hint of sympathy in his steeled voice, the remark only seemed to make Hazard look worse, his eyes almost sinking back into his skull.

Gregor knew from the look that Hazard had given him that 90% of what Hazard was thinking about was getting home. He knew what Hazard meant to Luxa, and could only imagine what the boy meant to her. He was, and would be the only one she ever fully trusted besides himself. The boy was Luxa's 'brother' although cousins by blood. They had gone through just as much together as Lux and he had. If Hazard were to die Gregor knew Luxa's life would crumble, nothing Gregor could do would be able to change that. He imagined watching her slip through his fingers, feeling her waste away to oblivion. He closed his eyes for a moment vowing to get the boy back to Regalia. He would go to the ends of the Earth for the people he called his friends, and for those he viewed as closer, of which he only knew of one, he would scour the Earth, traverse the pits of hell, and surrender his soul. He opened his eyes and looked up to the Underlander opposing him.

"If you're here for me I'm yours under two conditions," Gregor started, "One, you let me take Hazard back to Regalia, alone. Two, You don't go near my family under any circumstances."

"I haven't anything to offer but my word Overlander, should that be enough for you we shall go," the Underlander said, his voice deep and confident. Gregor was starting to doubt the man's ability to speak as he said those words. A little surprised Gregor looked the man in his eyes. He knew from all the time in the world that no matter how good someone is at acting their eyes cannot hide their true emotions. All he saw in the burly man was a strict code of honor and a passion driven for respect. No, not the one that kings and queens get, but the respect that is earned. Earned through hard work, sweat and loyalty. Gregor trusted his sixth sense to come to a conclusion about the Underlander, and conclude it did. He decided that no matter how uneasy he felt about the Underlander, his word was better than most people's promises.

"Let's be going then."

 **Yes my readers I have done it again! Another chapter hot off the press! So this chapter was a bit longer than I'd expected but if you want longer chapters let me know! If you have time drop a review, if not then enjoy the rest of your day/night. Enjoy life my friends.**

 **For now,**

 **-Pinchee**


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